Rebels Down Memphis 5-0 In First Outdoor Match

OXFORD, Miss. -- The No. 4 nationally ranked Ole Miss men’s tennis team survived frigid temperatures to down Memphis 5-0 Wednesday afternoon at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in its first outdoor match of the season.  The Rebels (7-2) will now turn their attention to the start of Southeastern Conference play this weekend.

Ole Miss jumped on the Tigers (5-5) early by taking the doubles point with wins at the top two spots.  The Rebels improved to 105-6 since 2002 when winning the doubles point.

Senior Erling Tveit made quick work of UM’s Armit Narasimhan 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 singles to make it 2-0 Rebels and inch closer to his 100^th win.   He now needs three wins to become the fourth Rebel to reach that plateau.   Afterwards, he talked about the win and the upcoming road trip.

“It was nice to get the first one outside,” he said.  “With the conditions the ball was very heavy, and it was hard to get in a rhythm.  This weekend is huge for the SEC.  Tennessee is very good, and it will be a hostile environment.  Georgia is also very good and it’s always tough playing in Athens.”

Moments after Tveit won, junior Bram ten Berge finished off Tiger Michael Gaerthoffner 6-3, 6-0 at No. 4 singles to increase the lead to 3-0.  Robbye Poole clinched the Rebel victory and improved to 6-0 at No. 3 singles by downing Jimmy Khougassian 6-1, 6-2. 

Right after Poole clinched, Jonas Berg finished off a straight-set (6-4, 6-2) win against Charlie Ramsay up on court five for the final 5-0 score.  Ole Miss led the last two matches on courts two and six when the teams elected to stop.

“We did a very good job, leading up to the match, of practicing under some tough conditions,” head coach Billy Chadwick said.  “It was good to get a win outside to prepare us for this weekend’s matches.  We wanted to play outside, even under these conditions.”

Next up for the Rebels is No. 13 Tennessee, who owns a 10-0 record.  The two teams will square off Friday at Noon CT in Knoxville.  Ole Miss came back to win last year’s meeting, 4-3 in Knoxville.  On Sunday, the Rebels will face No. 3-ranked and defending NCAA Champion, Georgia at Noon CT in Athens.

“The SEC didn’t do us any favors by having us open up against Tennessee and Georgia,” Chadwick said.  We know that they are both very good.  We will have to be at our best to win.  Tennessee is a top-10 team and has a win over Illinois. It’s always a tough place to play, and we were lucky to get a victory there last year.  We definitely have our work cut out for us, but the guys are healthy and looking forward to the great opportunity we have this weekend.”

Fans can follow the Rebels during both matches by going to www.OleMissSports.com and clicking on the live scoring links in the upcoming events box.

#4 Ole Miss 5

Memphis  0

 

DOUBLES

1. Tveit/Berg (OM) def. Narasimhan/Ramsay (UM) 8-2

2. ten Berge/Wellermann (OM) def. Khougassian/Naseman (UM) 8-5

3. Poole/Jakob Klaeson (OM) vs. Smith/Heflin (UM) 5-4, sus.

Order of finish: 1, 2

SINGLES

1. Erling Tveit (OM) def. Amrit Narasimhan (UM) 6-0, 6-2

2. Matthias Wellermann (OM) vs. Leon Naseman (UM) 6-4, 3-3, sus.

3. Robbye Poole (OM) def. Jimmy Khougassian (UM) 6-1, 6-2

4. Bram ten Berge (OM) def. Michael Gaerthoffner (UM) 6-3, 6-0

5. Jonas Berg (OM) def. Charlie Ramsay (UM)

6. Kalle Norberg (OM) vs. Benedikt Fischer (UM) 6-4, 4-1

Order of finish: 1, 4, 3, 5

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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